You know how I say it can be really difficult to predict contracts for players coming over from the NPB and KBO? Well, the San Francisco Giants are signing Korean star outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee to a contract that BLOWS AWAY even the highest estimates for his deal.
Maybe the Giants just got their star player:
Yowsa. I mean, the high end of projections on Lee’s deal were in the $50 million range, so this is like a Masataka Yoshida situation but even more extreme. People just had no clue how much the 25-year-old outfielder was going to get. And there’s a posting fee on top of that!
Lee has been a star at the plate in the KBO for a few years now, though there are questions on how his contact-first swing will play in MLB. And as a lefty hitting at that home park? I’m not sure he’s going to hit many homers.
But the glove is considered excellent in center field, and again, Lee is just 25. So the Giants are making a very big bet on the defense creating a significant floor, and the bat being at least a bit above average.
So, what’s the fallout here? Well, I can think of a few things off the top of my head:
Maybe this is the Giants getting their long-sought-after “star,” and they won’t be in the market for another big deal this offseason?
Specifically, this has to take the Giants out on Cody Bellinger? Kind of interesting that Scott Boras sent one client to the Giants relatively early in his usual process – maybe creating some space for Bellinger later on? Right now, we only know of the Cubs and Blue Jays as potentially interested teams, but almost certainly not at the price level being rumored out there. At least not the Cubs.
Because Lee is coming over from the KBO as a rare position player transition, I’m not sure his deal does much to the market. It could be that scouts among interested teams saw him as a potential star over here, too, hence the massive payday. That is to say, this could be a pretty idiosyncratic deal, which doesn’t suddenly make someone like Bellinger more expensive (on its own, anyway).
I’m gonna get yelled at, and yes I’m aware the Cubs already have Mike Tauchman, but I wonder if this signing pushes Mike Yastrzemski out the door. The 33-year-old lefty bat can play anywhere in the outfield and has always hit (.241/.327/.462/114 wRC+). He’s got two arbitration years left, and maybe the Giants don’t want him as their fourth outfielder? Eh, maybe this is a stretch. I’m thinking on the fly. The Cubs wouldn’t be in the market for a long-term center fielder OTHER than Bellinger (because he can move to first base easily enough), but maybe a short-term guy? Eh, just go ahead and yell at me.
Circling back to the “star” thing – the Giants will still be like $50 million under the first luxury tax threshold even after this Lee deal, so it’s not like they don’t have PLENTY of money to spend, even on another big deal. We know they are in the market for starting pitching.
NEWSLETTER
